TOKYO, Japan -- A high level delegation from the
European Union has failed to win unequivocal Japanese and Australian
support for ratification of the Kyoto Protocol without U.S. involvement.

From July 16 to 27 in Bonn, Germany, some 180 countries will attempt to
finalize rules for implementing the Kyoto Protocol, an international
agreement to limit the emission by industrialized nations of six greenhouse
gases linked to global warming.

President George W. Bush announced in March that the United States will not
ratify the Kyoto Protocol. This has led to a crisis in the international
efforts to finalize the agreement.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi told the European leaders today
that Japan "would have problems reaching a deal in Bonn without U.S.
involvement."

The European Union High Level Mission led by EU chief climate change
negotiator, Belgian Sustainable Development Minister, Olivier Deleuze, and
Environment Commissioner, Margot Wallstrom, is gathering support for
ratification of the 1997 Kyoto agreement.

A spokesperson for Wallstrom said the situation is now "critical."

On a positive note, the Commission said Japan reiterated its intention to
ratify the protocol by 2002, though officials did not say whether this was
conditional on U.S. involvement.

After meeting with the European leaders last week in Sydney, the Australian
cabinet decided to participate in climate talks in Bonn, but will not
commit to ratifying the global warming agreement without the United States.

At their meeting Friday with Australian Environment Minister Senator Robert
Hill, the EU leaders repeated the European commitment to ratify the Kyoto
Protocol by the year 2002, if necessary without the United States. But Hill
said Australia will not do so.

Under the Kyoto agreement, Australia would not have to cut emissions below
1990 levels, but could increase them only by eight percent. Japan would
have to cut its emissions six percent below 1990 levels.

In view of the United States' abandonment of the Kyoto Protocol in March,
the Australian government will review its position on the treaty, but said
Monday the deal should not be ratified without the United States. The
cabinet review will not be completed in time for the Bonn talks.

Last week, the chairman of the Bonn talks, Dutch Environment Minister Jan
Pronk said he could accept a two-year postponement in the start of the
period for implementing the emissions cuts.

The protocol sets a five year time period, from 2008 to 2012, for achieving
the reduction, but Pronk told parliament that an "option" would be to delay
the start by two years, to 2010.

The European Union is gathering support for ratification of the Kyoto
agreement by the 38 countries governed by the agreement immediately after
the Bonn meeting, while giving the United States the option to ratify at a
later date.

In Australia, the EU delegation underlined that the Kyoto Protocol
represents the result of a 10 year international effort to lay the
foundation for an international regime to combat climate change.

Belgian Sustainable Development Minister Olivier Deleuze is taking the lead in
climate talks. "We feel that we are in a situation of crucial urgency. We cannot accept that Parties [to the UN climate change treaty] are gaining time by putting into question the merits of the Kyoto Protocol," Deleuze said.

"This is a matter of political will. We have heard that people in Australia
do worry about climate change and want action. We cannot wait and see,"
said Wallstrom.

The EU leaders warned that any effort to replace the Kyoto Protocol would
create serious legal and political problems.

The EU representatives also met Laurie Brereton, member of the Australian
shadow cabinet, the Labor Party opposition to the ruling Liberals. Brereton
indicated support for an eventual ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

The EU Mission had a constructive meeting with Australian NGO's on the
question on how to seek actions against climate change, the Belgian
Presidency said.

In a June 24 editorial in the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper, Margot Wallstrom of Sweden the European Environment Commissioner wrote, "Let's always remind ourselves: There is one partner with whom we cannot negotiate - the climate itself."

"The overwhelming weight of scientific opinion confirms that global warming
is a major problem. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently
concluded that its impact is likely to be greater than previously feared,"
Wallstrom wrote, "Some uncertainties remain about exactly how the process
is working, but we have more than enough evidence to convince us that swift
action is needed."

The entry into force of the Protocol is linked to two conditions - the
ratification by 55 States and the coverage of at least 55 percent of carbon
dioxide emissions of the industrialized countries in 1990. Since the United
States emits roughly 25 percent of the world's greenhouse gases, most of
the other industrialized countries covered by the protocol would have to
ratify before it could enter into force.

By May 9, 34 countries had ratified the Protocol, including only one
country whose emissions are governed by the agreement.

The Kyoto Protocol aims to realize the objective of the 1992 UN Framework
Convention on Climate Change, "the stabilization of greenhouse gas
concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous
anthropogenic interference with the climate system."

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the dominant greenhouse gas for industrialized
countries, accounting for 85 percent of emissions in 1996. Fossil fuel
combustion accounts for more than 90 percent of all CO2 emission.

The other greenhouse gases are methane (CH4, 10.5 percent), and nitrous
oxide (N2O, 6.5 percent). HFCs, PFCs and SF6 account for a small share
(about two percent) of total emissions in 1996 but have risen sharply over
the 1990-1996 period.

Because the six months rotating Presidency of the European Union passed
from Sweden to Belgium on July 1, Belgian Deleuze will chair the European
Union delegation at the upcoming climate negotiations. He will fill that
role in Bonn at the continuation of the 6th Conference of the Parties (COP
6) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, and again
at the 7th Conference of Parties (COP 7) in Marrakech, Morocco in November.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.